Joe Flacco is not the solution for Richardson

MINNEAPOLIS – Ten thoughts on the Colts' 21-13 loss to the Vikings at US Bank Stadium on Sunday Night Football:

1. This was a strange game to end a turbulent and largely confusing week.

With Joe Flacco replacing Anthony Richardson at quarterback, the Colts were looking for stability and comfort on the road against a potent blitz team and one of the NFL's loudest crowds.

This wasn't about maintaining the crowd or avoiding bad interceptions like the one Flacco threw directly to Byron Murphy Jr. in field goal range. Ultimately, it also failed to prevent the sack fire, whereas a 250-pound athlete like Richardson probably could have.

It's just one game, but this looked like a 39-year-old quarterback trying to do what he can to survive behind a struggling offensive line without many playmakers. It can probably work in some scenarios, but if the goal was to give this team a playoff run, that wasn't the takeaway.

But it gave us a lot to analyze, from the consistency of Josh Downs to the defensive tackles that wreaked havoc on the offensive line's regression.

Joe Flacco vs. Anthony Richardson

2. This quarterback change has been a lot to process this week, as the message hasn't been entirely clear about exactly what it means for Richardson. The need to boost the offense with Flacco in the meantime was expressed in order to make the playoffs.

Well, that spark never came in Minneapolis, even when facing a Vikings defense that, while talented, had allowed the Lions and Rams 61 points and 777 yards of strong offense over the last two weeks.

The Colts didn't score an offensive point until 12:41 minutes into the game. They didn't have a drive longer than 44 yards until the end of the third quarter. It wasn't until the second half that they were able to break 100 yards of offense.

With six points and 227 yards, they finished the season with their worst offensive performance.

Perhaps the offense avoided some of the game's low points with a young quarterback, but it did nothing to suggest that this is a group capable of making the playoffs. And that's worrying when it's the main reason for abandoning the original plan.

3. Other than quarterback, there is very little in the “really good” category on that side of the ball right now. We know Jonathan Taylor is a fantastic runner who can play here and there in space as a receiver, and the defense knows that too. We know Josh Downs can be open against man and zone coverage and provide consistent help at the intermediate level.

But beyond that, it's hard to find anything a defensive coordinator should be afraid of when the offensive line is injured and struggling, the tight ends are blockers, Michael Pittman Jr. is at about 50% capacity, and Alec Pierce is on and off it hits two-high security shells.

4. To win in this format without the quarterback running and sack avoidance of Richardson, the Colts needed the offensive line to carry the day. After all, that's how general manager Chris Ballard built this team.

But of course that's difficult without a starting left tackle and with Matt Goncalves making his first start in relief in such a situation. He gets help from a superstar left-back in Quenton Nelson, but the rest of the team is unimpressive without Will Fries' excellent pass protection on the right, with Ryan Kelly and Braden Smith currently looking nothing like the players they used to be.

5. The Colts started this game with Taylor touches on six of their first seven plays. It was a really efficient first drive before Taylor botched a handoff. And it was a way to navigate a match against a barrage of blitz attacks by giving the offense a baseline.

These are all the things we asked the Colts to do when Richardson started, when they knew the completion count wouldn't be high. Because of this, the Colts paid Taylor more than all but two other running backs in football. But it was missing from their approach at the start of games until tonight.

Indianapolis had to make these schematic changes first before they could make a difference with the quarterback change.

Colts WR Josh Downs stood out

6. On the bright side, there really isn't much to criticize about Downs' game at the moment. It's rare to say that about a second-year player.

He's getting used to two different quarterbacks for the second straight year, like a 10-year veteran does. His routes are smooth, his hands are money, his ability to read coverages and settle in is reliable, and his ability to move his feet vertically and horizontally makes his 5-foot-10 height somewhat misleading.

When the defense sets up the box to take away Taylor, he is the only answer the offense has. The same goes when teams are blitzing and the ball needs to come out quickly. He's the receiver who can separate from down low, and he's the one who can adapt to the ball and make reliable catches even when Pittman's back is injured.

We'll see what the final cap is, but it looks like he's going to be a player for a long time.

7. I think the Colts should have played that 4th-and-2 game on downs, which was the only thing they had reliably in that game, and having Taylor's presence in the backfield could and was helpful it just to see what impact that might have on adjusting the Vikings' personnel selection and opening up a check-down option with the chance of a player missing the mark.

Dulin simply wasn't suited to what the Colts needed him to do, with a slanted route against Stephon Gilmore's press coverage.

“Gilly put too much pressure on me. I was trying to create separation, so I kind of leaned on him and tried to find the right spot opposite Cover 1,” Dulin said. “It was a bang-bang game.”

It seemed like Michael Pittman Jr. was a little shaken up, and he usually directs the play. But here, you can't just switch to backup on critical downs against the most aggressive defensive play calls. In some of these crucial games it has to become the players' mission.

And Downs is the best player to make this type of play.

8. Two Colts defensive tackles kept them in this football game.

Grover Stewart led the guards into the backfield and disrupted him, scoring his first two-sack game, highlighted by the strip sack that allowed Kenny Moore II to recover a fumble and return it for a 38-yard touchdown to reply.

DeForest Buckner scored a deep sack on Sam Darnold and also lived into his vision of dropbacks, wasting opportunities to overwhelm those wide receivers and tight ends who were constantly open.

The defense played as well as was realistically possible despite the inconsistencies in the secondary. Moore made good plays on screens and run plays and Zaire Franklin and EJ Speed won when off blocks. The deficiencies were there, as we expected, with linebackers in coverage and some running plays to the edges.

Justin Jefferson takes advantage of personal coverage

9. The defense faced a challenge not seen since Week 1: trying to contain a superstar wide receiver who has an accurate quarterback giving him the ball.

Justin Jefferson is the very best there is and has proven that by constantly getting open downfield against Jaylon Jones, who tried to keep control of the match but doesn't have the quickness to keep up with that type of player and goes to the middle – like only a few do.

Samuel Womack recovered well from Jefferson's deep, but the Colts made the odd decision to stay in Cover 3 to clear the deep sides for Jefferson, who exploded for seven catches for 137 yards.

10. This is the challenge they will continue to face over the next three weeks: Josh Allen throwing against Amari Cooper, Aaron Rodgers throwing against Garrett Wilson, and Davante Adams and Jared Goff throwing against Amon-Ra. St Brown.

“You’re not as good as him,” Franklin said.

That's correct. But the challenges will also include some better quarterbacks, like a superstar in Josh Allen next week and a red-hot Jared Goff two weeks after that. The combination of quality at quarterback and receiver with some star upside will be the theme of this four-game stretch.

“We held Tyreek Hill with a hook,” Franklin said. “He’s the best player in the NFL. … I think at the end of the day we’ll be OK.”

They better hope so. This quarterback change was sold as a “playoffs or bust” move, and the Bills and Lions will present this 4-5 team with some big challenges over the next three weeks.

Joe Flacco vs. Anthony Richardson

Colts WR Josh Downs stood out

Justin Jefferson takes advantage of personal coverage

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